Dark Dispatch Issue #1

Dark Dispatch Issue #1 on sale now! Buy it here.

Dark Dispatch is a pop culture site that publishes dark fiction short stories, articles, reviews, interviews, and news.

Our first issue features the theme of redemption and includes short fiction from Rebecca Burton, Christina Delia, Lena Ng, and dave ring.

Rebecca Burton is a queer, neurodivergent writer from the UK, who disappears into the fantasy worlds in her head to distract herself from her day job completing people’s tax returns.

She has sold short fiction to Fireside Magazine and Abyss & Apex (to be published later this year), and is currently seeking representation for her YA fantasy novels. When not writing, she can be found learning (too many) languages, drinking (too much) tea, and muttering about hair dye and k-drama on Twitter (@TyGrammarRex).

Donyae Coles is a weird fiction and horror author. You can follow her on Twitter at @okokno or her website, www.donyaecoles.com

Christina Delia is a horror writer from New Jersey. Her story “Stuffie” was included in the anthology What Monsters Do For Love: Volume Three (Soteira Press). Most recently, her story “Like Abigail Winchell” was published in the psychological horror anthology Shadowy Natures, and her story “Moi Aussi” is forthcoming in 2021 in the LGBTQ+ dark fiction anthology Unburied (both from Dark Ink Books/AM Ink Publishing.)

Laurel Hightower grew up in Kentucky, attending college in California and Tennessee before returning home to horse country, where she lives with her husband, son, and a rescue pitbull. She works as a paralegal in a mid-size firm, wrangling litigators by day and writing at night. A bourbon and beer girl, she’s a fan of horror movies and true life ghost stories. She is the author of Whispers in the Dark and Crossroads, co-edited the charity anthology We Are Wolves, and her short fiction has appeared in several anthologies.

Brian Lindenmuth has been writing about crime fiction since 2006. He started off as the mystery/crime fiction editor for Mystery Book Spot and was the longtime non-fiction editor of Spinetingler Magazine. Additionally, his work has appeared in Crimespree Magazine, Heliotrope Magazine, BSC Review, Mulholland Books website, and Galley Cat. He was the head of the reading committee for the annual Spinetingler Awards.
The eyebrows are real, and they’re spectacular. Follow him on twitter @brianlindenmuth

Lena Ng lives in Toronto, Ontario. She has short stories in over fifty publications including Amazing Stories and the anthology We Shall Be Monsters, which was a finalist for the 2019 Prix Aurora Award. “Under an Autumn Moon” is her short story collection. She is currently seeking a publisher for her novel, Darkness Beckons, a Gothic romance.

dave ring is a queer editor and writer of speculative fiction living in Washington, DC.  He is the publisher and managing editor of Neon Hemlock Press, as well as editor of the anthology Glitter + Ashes: Queer Tales of a World That Wouldn’t Die. His short fiction has been featured in numerous publications, including Fireside Fiction, The Disconnect, and A Punk Rock Future. Find him at www.dave-ring.com or @slickhop on Twitter.

Sandra Ruttan was a walking disaster in her formative years. At age eight she was hit by a car while riding her bike home and her head was cut open. Just before her ninth birthday she was running along the beach, landed on broken glass, and her foot was partially severed. The muscle had to be stitched back together, leaving some uncertainty about whether she’d walk again, and the doctor was so fed up with her screaming he told her if she didn’t shut up he’d cut her foot off. She went to school with the doctor’s son, and forever felt sorry for him. After her tenth birthday she fell down a waterfall and almost drowned. Her later adventures have included being in Seville when they found 4.5 tons of explosives set to blow up the Semana Santa parade and being in a car crash in the Sahara Desert. There is absolutely no explanation for how she’s managed to stay alive as long as she has. Keep up to date at her website, http://sruttan.wordpress.com/ or via twitter @sandraruttan

David Webb is an actor, writer and professional nerd. He’s been seen on stage around the world, and recently moved his efforts online launching Nerdy Nightly with his wife in 2020. He has an opinion about everything, and he’s happy to share them with you on Youtube or while he’s making a fool of himself live on Twitch! All that and more at nerdynightly.com

From the blog